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Somewhere between recording sessions and cross-country flights, Jack Harlow, the Louisville rapper, rediscovered the joy of just walking, and that rediscovery now has a shoe attached to it.
His newest New Balance collaboration takes the T500, a low-profile silhouette with roots on the tennis court, and repositions it entirely around a different kind of activity: strolling through a park with nowhere in particular to be. The name gives it away. “Olmsted” is a nod to Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect responsible for both New York’s Central Park and Louisville’s Cherokee Park, the latter of which Harlow says shaped his adolescence and even appeared in his early music videos.
Finished in a glossy “black coffee” leather, the shoe leans dressier than sporty, something Harlow could wear on a walk and then straight into dinner without missing a beat. He worked on the colorway alongside New Balance’s design team, his creative director Kat, and longtime collaborator Urban Wyatt, landing on brown as a color that felt tied to the mood of his new album, Monica. There’s a sheen to the leather that keeps it looking sharp even after miles of pavement, which, per Harlow, was the point; dark leather hides wear better than most.
Where recent walking-shoe trends have skewed toward exaggerated, chunky soles, the T500 stays flat and understated, something Harlow says he’s been gravitating toward lately.
Before its global release, the “Olmsted” will launch at a pop-up in Harlow’s hometown, held, fittingly, at Hogan’s Fountain inside Cherokee Park on August 28th from 3 to 7 PM. Food, music, giveaways, and a blanket-on-the-grass kind of afternoon are promised, open to anyone who shows up.
The Jack Harlow x New Balance T500 Olmsted drops September 4th via New Balance’s website. Check out the pair below.
Jack Harlow x New Balance T500 “Olmsted”
Color: Black Coffee
Style Code: U5005JD
Release Date: August 28, 2026 (Louisville Pop-up)
Release Date: September 4, 2026 (New Balance)
Price: $130 USD
